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UC Santa Barbara Chancellor Henry T. Yang announced today the gift to establish the Jack and Laura Dangermond Endowed Chair in Conservation Studies. The Dangermonds are the founders of Esri, the world’s largest geographic information systems (GIS) software company.

The $1 million endowment will further enhance UC Santa Barbara’s reputation for research and teaching in the environmental and Earth sciences, environmental sustainability and technological innovation. Holders of the Dangermond Chair will bring distinguished records of active scholarly engagement and teaching to new innovative research projects conducted, in part, at a new conservation preserve near Point Conception.

“Santa Barbara and UCSB are near and dear to me and Laura, and it was incredibly important that we continue supporting the amazing talent coming out of the world-class institution that is UC Santa Barbara,” said Jack Dangermond. “We look forward to strong collaboration between Esri, UCSB and the conservation communities for many years to come.”

The new preserve, named the Jack and Laura Dangermond Preserve, is part of The Nature Conservancy (a globally recognized conservation organization). The Preserve provides a natural laboratory for environmental investigations in the Chair’s areas of scientific expertise, for the purpose of addressing challenges, issues and opportunities presented by the natural environment.

“We are extremely grateful to Jack and Laura for this visionary and generous gift to support interdisciplinary research, long a hallmark of our campus,” said Chancellor Yang. “Our faculty, researchers and students are thrilled at the opportunity to advance the field of conservation studies through this exciting partnership with Esri and The Nature Conservancy.”